Frustrating evening

[Zakalwe]

It looked it was to clear, then clouded over.

Took a chance to set the kit up, and magically it started to clear. Bunged the QHY5 on the Nexstar to try out a bit of Lunar imaging....the seeing was pretty good. Then the damned laptop wouldn't connect to the Nexstar. Reinstalled the drivers a few times, and it suddenly kicked into life, so I rattled off a few .avis.

The imaging rig should have cooled by now, so I started to connect it all up (I have GOT to build an obsy...). Then the EQ6 wouldn't connect to EQmod. GRRRRR. Finally got it connected, polar aligned using EQAlign. Then the QHY5 software kept crashing. De-installed all the drivers. Reinstalled them. A couple of laptop restarts and we are good to go.

Synched up Carte du Ciel, slew to M101, bang in the centre of the viewfinder.

Focus up the Equinox aaaannnnd the damn focus keeps sliding under the weight of the camera. Crank the focus lock screw right up and start shooting some 200 second exposures. APT keeps loosing the connection to the camera and stalling. Get that sorted.

Then the guiding goes AWOL. Wander out to the rig, and the brand new dew-strip that I bought last week isn't working (I bought 2 x Kendrick strips...the first was DOA and the second packed up on the first outing. blumming rubbish, and will be straight back to Bern at Modern Astronomy in the morning). So the guidescope was dewed up.

At that point I decide to give it up as a bad job. Only managed to get 11 x 200 second exposures.

Arrrgghhhh....this hobby can be sooo frustrating at times:mad:

[Talitha]

That's why i sketch...

My biggest glitch so far has been a dropped pencil.

[RogerTheDodger]

[Zakalwe]

That's why i sketch...

My biggest glitch so far has been a dropped pencil.

Yeah, but I bet you have had evenings where the paper gets blown away, the pencil nib keeps breaking and your pencil sharpened keeps re-booting:D:D